


How to Play Pool (Intermediate Level)

by DJClawson



Series: Theodore Nelson's Adventures in Sharing a Workspace [22]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: Coming Out, Homosexuality, M/M, Mention of Theo Nelson/Ward Meachum, Multi, Polyamory, Polyamory Negotiations, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-20
Updated: 2019-05-20
Packaged: 2020-03-08 18:20:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18900082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DJClawson/pseuds/DJClawson
Summary: Theo has friends. Unfortunately, they want to meet Matt.





	How to Play Pool (Intermediate Level)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Nell](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nell/gifts).



> Thank you to LachesisMeg for her beta work!
> 
> Filling prompt: Matt touches Theo's face
> 
> Other notes: I took a break from the longer fic to fill this prompt because I'm a glutton for comments and I don't like making readers wait too long for content. Enjoy!

It started out when Theo met Shawn in a bar. Shawn wasn’t super hot - he was kind of small, like Theo, which wasn’t Theo’s type - but he was nice, and he wanted to chat for a while, and Theo wasn’t picky. It was also nice to make a connection with someone first, even if it was only over inexcusably bad beer. Like something was wrong with the tap in that place, but the atmosphere was good, and Theo, who worked in the service industry, didn’t like to hassle other people in the service industry about things they probably couldn’t change. 

Then Shawn got a text, and said it was his boyfriend, and Theo was like, “Oh, no thanks.” He didn’t want to be the other guy. He  _ never _ wanted to be the other guy. It only happened by accident.

“No, it’s cool,” Shawn assured him. “I’m poly and he’s out of town.”

“Um,” Theo said, carefully weighing his options. “I’m not totally sure I believe you.”

“You want me to tell him? Because I will.” Shawn was typing faster than Theo could respond. He finished off his overpriced cocktail while they were waiting for an answer, which was swift, and then he fucking handed over his phone, just like that.

_ Met a guy, he wants to confirm you’re cool with it. _

**_Is he cute?_ **

_ Yes. _

**_Tell him it’s fine. Nice of him to check. Also, Dallas sucks._ **

“He’s on a business trip,” Shawn explained. “He goes on a lot of them, so this is our standing arrangement. We good?”

“Yeah,” Theo said. He was very done with his beer. “We’re good.”

Shawn didn’t live far, and they had fun. They hooked up again the next week, and Theo told him he could text when Shawn’s boyfriend (his name was Trevor) was out of town again. Which he did, a couple months later. Trevor had to travel extensively for his job and aside from the airline miles he was accruing, he hated it. But it meant he could afford a nice apartment in SoHo. 

After the third time, Shawn said, “Do you like pool?”

“I’m not very good at it.” But he’d played because it was something to do at bars. 

“We play on Sundays, one or twice a month. We’re looking for a fourth. It’s very casual. No one’s very good.” He added, “And it’s really just pool.”

Theo didn’t have a consistent social circle, so he said, “Sure.”

That was how Theo met Trevor, who turned out to be a pretty good guy (who was definitely not poly himself), and their friend Marcus, and they made a nice little club together. It was nice to be together with people he knew in a place other than a really loud club, and when there wasn’t any pressure to get laid or think about whether someone was trying to hit on him. He hadn’t realized how much he needed somewhere to go and drink a few beers and just be chill. 

This continued for a few years, during which Marcus became Misha when she started her transition, and Theo was proud that he only fucked up the name change a couple times, and only because of habit. Misha was a social worker, and she wasn’t out at work or with her family in any respect, even though she would be legally protected when was ready to change her status at work. So there was a mutual respect for being closeted, and Theo could talk shit about work or his family and not worry about it. It felt good to let his guard down just a little bit. He could talk about his bad hookups, or customers being assholes, or worry about his father’s arthritis. They got to know him and he got to know them - Trevor had a consulting business where people hired him to restructure their failing companies and Shawn played online poker professionally.

“It’s not what you think,” Shawn said.

“What, you sit at home all day in the $5 rooms and take people’s payday money?”

“Okay, it’s exactly what you think.”

Unfortunately, getting to know him meant  _ they knew him _ , and when he stopped going to clubs and came out to his brother, they knew something was up. Especially when he clammed up about it.

“So who is he?”

“Fuck you.” Theo sipped his beer and watched Misha put another ball in the pocket. She’d gained a lot of confidence now that she could be herself, which involved a lot of sparkly accessories.

“You know us,” Trevor said. “If he’s not out, we’ll respect it.”

_ I don’t think he cares _ , Theo thought. “Respect that I don’t want to have this conversation.”

They left it at that, at least for a little while. But then Theo also came out to his parents, and his family, and Shawn said, “So it’s serious?”

“It’s not serious.”

“That means it’s very serious.”

He relented, “Just because I’ve seen him multiple times doesn’t mean it’s serious.”

“Does he sleep over?”

“Sometimes.”

“Do you cuddle?”

“I like cuddling in general.”

Shawn looked at the others. “It’s serious.”

“I fucking hate all of you.”

That earned him another month - partially because he missed a weekend - until Trevor said, “We decided that we have to meet him.”

“I’m not sure he plays pool.” Fuck, Matt probably played pool really well. 

“Why does that matter?” Misha asked. “Is he hot?”

“Of course he’s hot. I’m not running a charity. And no, I’m not willing to share.”

Misha pretended to be offended. “We weren’t going to ask.”

“I was thinking about it,” Shawn said, even though he was decidedly monogamous when Trevor was in town, and Trevor was standing right next to him. They were practically married. If you had both your names on the lease, you were married. That was real commitment. “Come on. We have never even asked to meet anyone you’ve cared about. And now you’re out and in a relationship and it seems like this guy is like, changing your life.”

The thing was, Matt sort of was. Theo had to give him some credit. “He’s ... supportive. Of me. Of things I should have the courage to do myself. And he’s blind, so he doesn’t have to look at me.”

“Ted, if you weren’t cute, I never would have talked you up and we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” Shawn said. “I’m not a charity worker, either.”

“Has he felt your face?” Misha asked. “Oh my G-d, I shouldn’t have said that. Is that even a thing? Or is that just in the movies?”

“He has never felt my face.” Specifically for that reason. Matt had touched his face plenty of times. “My brother said he would do the face-touching thing as a way to pick up people in bars. It’s like, a line you can use.”

“So what you’re saying is, he’s never had to use a line on you.”

“Shit, no.” And Theo realized that was true.

  
  


Theo didn’t mean to give in, he really didn’t, but Matt knew about the pool group, because Theo had no reason to lie about it and it was the only day of the week that they were both free. Matt  _ tried _ take a break from Daredeviling that day - something about the Sabbath, some bullshit that Theo was happy to roll with if it kept Matt of the streets - but it didn’t always work. 

“Do you not play pool or do you play it super well? Because I know it’s gonna be one of the two.”

Matt raised his eyebrows. “I can fake not being good at it.”

“It is a color-based game.”

“The cue ball is the one I have to keep track of, and it always has the most nicks and dust on it. And it has no engravings. But it helps if someone tells me where it is. Foggy won’t play with me anymore now that he knows about my senses. Called me a hustler.”

“I’m not going to make you fake being, you know, blind. Or whatever you call it.”

“We can just tell them that they shouldn’t assume blind people can’t play pool. They’ll be too embarrassed to ask further questions.”

“Fuck, you’re not thinking of going, are you? I shouldn’t have brought it up.”

“I think I can withstand the scrutiny of your friends,” Matt said. “The papers say I’m the Man Without Fear.”

“Yeah, that’s why you bolt when Foggy brings up something that involves feelings. Lack of fear.”

“And I would only go if you wanted me to,” Matt said, putting a hand over his - a very dangerous thing to do when Sadie was in Theo’s lap. She got possessive. “If you want you want to bring your super hot boyfriend and watch him beat all of your friends at pool, I’m saying I’d be up for that.”

Fuck, Theo did love making people jealous. It wasn’t his most endearing quality and he usually kept is suppressed. Matt must have smelled it on him. “Okay,” he said. “But no face-touching.”

“When have I ever done that in front of you?” Matt said. “When I came home with Foggy for that first Thanksgiving, about half a dozen people asked me if I wanted to touch their face. Most of them kids. I did it for them, because they were kids and they didn’t know better.”

“We were assholes.” Though Theo didn’t remember doing it.

“People get nervous around me. They don’t know what to say. But I can tell when they’re trying to be nice.” 

“I think Mom spent like literally ten minutes explaining all of the things we couldn’t say to you before you got in. Not with everyone there, just with a few people, like Uncle Timmy and Aunt Jeanie and Andy and Brett. And Mrs. Mahoney. She even lectured Mrs. Mahoney. That took some balls. She really didn’t want us to fuck up.”

“Were there pamphlets?”

“She drew the line somewhere,” Theo explained. “But I bet she  _ read _ a bunch of pamphlets.”

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Matt said with a stupid, slightly sarcastic grin on his face. “You all were nervous. I was nervous. Foggy was almost at the point of a cardiac event. Everyone was on the same page about whether to be nervous or not. Looking back, it all seems very charming.”

“And you accepted us anyway.”

“Foggy made it pretty clear I didn’t have a choice. That’s not what he said, but that’s what he meant.” 

“He can be very aggressive about being friendly,” Theo said as he stroked Sadie’s belly. “You never touched my face.”

“I would have lost a roommate if I had hit on his brother the first time he brought me to his home.”

“That’s the only reason you do it?”

“It doesn’t actually give me a lot of useful information,” Matt said. “Fine, I get it.” He straightened up. “Now stay still or I’ll miss and poke your eyes out.”

“Fuck you,” Theo said. “Just so you know, I haven’t shaved in a while and I have kind of a Wolverine thing going on. Can you tell that? I mean in general?”

“Beards smell different than clean-shaven chins. They carry dander and food in them.”

“Gross.”

“Most people wouldn’t actually want to know what my senses pick up,” Matt said, and he put his hands on Theo’s chin. He’d done this before, for one reason or another, but not for  _ this _ reason. He was gentle as he started at the edges of the beard and moved inwards, tracing a line along his cheekbones. “Your face is smaller than Foggy’s. More compact. And thinner, obviously.”

“Is that good?”

“It’s not good or bad. It’s just you. Everyone is distinct.” He brushed Theo’s noise with his thumb. “I don’t know why, after all these years, I’m still always looking for a broken nose. My dad was the last person I saw, so I guess some part of me is still looking for him.”

Theo swallowed. He didn’t know what to say to that. 

Matt finished with his forehead, which, aside from a few acne scars he no doubt found, was normal. “See? You’re not the neanderthal you make yourself out to be. You’re beautiful.”

“Is that part of the line?”

“None of this is a line,” Matt said, and kissed him. 

Sadie mewed angrily when Theo hastily shoved her off the bed, but at that moment, he did not care.

  
  


Just because Theo’s boyfriend was cool and trustworthy and knew exactly how to deal with people didn’t mean Theo couldn’t obsess about everything concerned with the next cool game, from what they were wearing to what he was going to say to how much Matt was going to fake blind stuff.

“Relax,” Matt said. He put a hand on Theo’s cheek. “Also, you don’t have to shave every day. You’re irritating your skin.”

“You made me self-conscious about it.”

“Your grooming habits have always been just fine. Not all beards smell bad. Or sometimes the aftershave is just worse, when someone really layers it on.”

Theo knew Matt hated chemical smells, even ones meant to be appealing. Matt used special unscented shampoo and soap, so Theo kept some at his place. He tried using them himself but found them to be insufficient for his amount of naturally-oily hair. Matt also told him repeatedly not to change his habits for him - Theo smelled fine, and his apartment smelled of kitty litter but nothing could be done about that. 

“Foggy always smells a little bit like Cheetos, even if he hasn’t eaten them recently,” Matt admitted, “and I lived with him for years.”

“I’m gonna tell him you said that.”

Matt was just unflappable. “He’ll deny it, but he won’t be surprised.”

By the time they got in the Lyft (G-d, Matt and cabs, at least they had a union,  _ Matt _ ) he was just about fucking flipping out and regretting that he left his vaporizer home and Matt had to talk him down from a panic attack on the other end, and maybe he was being a  _ little _ dramatic.

His friends were waiting. Matt held out his hand in that general way he did when he wanted people to shake it, and Theo felt conflicted about Matt needing to do that - to hide his abilities - but Matt’s face betrayed none of that. 

Shawn broke the ice by saying, “Fuck, he is hot.” Misha burst into laughter, and Trevor punched his boyfriend in the shoulder, but he was smiling, too.

“So I’ve been told, but it’s nice to have independent confirmation,” Matt said, the smooth motherfucker that he was. “I hear you guys like pool?”

They all wanted to play - probably so they would be less nervous and not accidentally ask a question about Matt’s blindness - and Matt assured them that he knew how to play. “Any action on this game?”

“Uh, no,” Trevor said. “Because we all want to keep liking each other when this is over.”

“Is that already hard?”

Fuck, Matt was funny, too. Theo might not make it out of this.

When it was Matt’s turn, he took his hand and showed him where all of the balls were. Matt made a show of looking around with his hands, but he did that even when he was alone with Theo, or in the back room at work, so Theo suspected some of it was just  _ easier _ than constantly trying to sense everything with his nose and ears. He did not ask for help lining up his shot. He looked just like a normal guy playing pool for a moment - a guy who knocked two balls in pockets on the first try.

“Holy shit,” Shawn said. “You’re not blind.”

“I am very blind.” Matt merely sounded amused. “You can google it.”

“Don’t be an asshole,” Theo said.

But Shawn had his phone out. “What do I google? How do blind people play pool?”

“‘Matthew blind lawyer’ will get my life story,” Matt said. “You were lucky you didn’t take me up on betting.”

“Excuse Shawn - he is a super asshole sometimes,” Trevor testified, then took his shot, which he had to spend some time setting up now that two balls were gone. 

But Shawn kept at it, with Misha conspicuously looking over his shoulder. “Shit, you’re a hero. You were a hero kid.”

“I’m also an orphan raised by nuns after my father was murdered,” Matt said. “In case you need it to be more tragic.”

“You have a very healthy attitude about it,” Misha said, clearly impressed. “I assume you sued  _ everyone _ .”

“Wasn’t a lawyer back then,” Matt said. “We got a settlement and I get free check-ups once a year. But that’s it. Also sympathy might have helped get me into college.”

“Admissions officers do eat up that shit,” Trevor said as Misha took her shot. “Nothing to be ashamed of. I was a legacy and I sure as hell mentioned that.” He nudged his boyfriend. “Shawn. Your turn.”

“Oh, sorry.” Shawn put his phone down. “Sorry, Matt. It’s just that we don’t know anything about you.”

“I assumed Ted talked about me all the time,” Matt said. Since Theo was out now, he didn’t have to keep up the distinction between names. He had explained to Matt that these guys knew him as Ted, but if he didn’t remember, it was fine. Matt did remember.

“He wouldn’t admit you existed, which was how we knew he liked you,” Misha said, and Theo wondered if he could just hide under the pool table for the rest of the evening. “The harder we pushed him about it, the more he fought us, and that’s when we knew he was in deep.”

“Fuck all of you guys,” Theo said very noncommittally into his beer. 

“See! Right there!” Shawn pointed. “Ted, your turn.”

Theo hadn’t been paying much attention to the game, which wasn’t supposed to run with five players, but nobody cared too much about the rules in general. Thankfully Matt did not offer to help, though he certainly could have  _ used  _ the help, because he got precisely nowhere with his shot. He just moved the balls around on the table.

After Matt’s second turn, they did not need a score to know he was going to win. 

“I can dial it back,” he said to Theo, but not in enough of a whisper that the others couldn’t hear if they were paying attention. Theo wasn’t sure if he meant his swagger or his game.

“No, we’ll feel super bad about it,” Trevor said. “You’re a hustler and I mean it in the kindest possible way. We’ll deal.”

“Usually people assume I can’t play,” Matt admitted. Fuck, he had to make himself vulnerable, too, which was always adorable. Theo didn’t know if he wanted to beat Matt with his pool cue or fuck him on that table in front of everyone. But he knew that Matt knew he was thinking about doing  _ something _ . “I appreciate you guys inviting me to play.”

“We had to meet Ted’s boyfriend,” Misha said. “He’s crazy about you.”

“Thanks, Misha, for discussing my private life,” Theo said.

“Yes, you’ve blown Ted’s cover of pretending that he hates me,” Matt said, the bastard. 

“We don’t normally ask him to bring people,” Trevor said. “He’s very private. The only thing he’s ever bragged about was getting to see Hamilton with the original cast because his date had tickets. Which, Christ, that’s something to brag about.”

Matt looked in Theo’s direction, and Theo said, “It’s who you’re thinking of. It was the only thing I ever let him buy me, mostly because  _ he _ wanted to go.”

“Oh, sure, be modest about it now,” Shawn said. “He even had house seats.”

“You won’t let me buy you things,” Matt said.

“No, but you trick Danny into buying me things.”

“We don’t  _ trick _ him,” Matt corrected. To the others, he said, “We have a very rich mutual friend. Neither of us has slept with him yet.”

“Which is not gonna happen!” Theo insisted. “Why does everyone think it’s gonna happen just because I cook for him?”

“Is he straight?” Misha asked.

“He thinks he is,” Theo answered. “Which is not the point. The point is he is rich and genuinely bad with money and all he wants is for someone to listen to his crazy stories about heavenly cities of Asia or whatever. And I seem to be the only one willing to do it.”

“Is he single?” Shawn said.

“He has a girlfriend,” Theo said.

“We don’t really know what’s going on there.” Matt did not react to Theo glaring daggers at him, and Theo wondered if it was because Matt had to pretend he couldn’t sense them, or because he was just outright ignoring him. 

“And stop asking everyone if they’re single!” Trevor said to his longtime, committed boyfriend. “I’m right here!”

They peppered Matt with questions about their relationship, which Matt artfully dodged, allowing Theo to stumble over not telling the story of how they got together - maybe because ‘we decided to fuck in the restaurant bathroom as soon as we figured out we both weren’t straight’ sounded as sleazy as it might have been - and Theo did a serviceable job of not saying anything specific, he thought. Not that Matt wouldn’t have owned it.

Matt might be the perfect boyfriend.

By the time the third game was over (they went quickly when Matt was playing), and goodbyes were exchanged, and approval of Matt was expressed by all of Theo’s friends, Theo was ready to take him home and show him exactly how much he appreciated having this handsome man – who was slowly driving him mad– in his life. 

“So did I impress your friends?”

“Sure did,” Theo said, and pushed him on the bed. “Now shut the fuck up.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> If I didn't get any of my wording write for explaining Misha's situation, please comment and correct me! I tried my best, but I'm not perfect and I'm not trans myself, so I want to be corrected.


End file.
